In oil and gas pipeline systems, it is often necessary to heat the material or fluid being transported through the pipeline, or to heat certain sections of the pipeline, in order to assist in the transmission of the material fluid through the pipeline. In addition to the potential higher heat conditions, the material and fluids being transmitted through these types of pipelines may be under high pressure conditions. Such pipelines have inherent “weak links” at juncture locations, including at any bends or elbows including in the pipeline system. Moreover, it is known that at such pipeline system bends, or elbows, stresses tend to be higher, and weaknesses may develop over time due to natural system usage and wear and tear. Due to the potential higher system pressures, and higher material temperatures, if a failure in the pipeline structure occurs, such failures could be dangerous to personnel or equipment located near any failure point. Manufacturers and operators of such pipeline systems have incorporated and used various safety designs and precautions to minimize damage or injuries that may occur should a system failure occur. As illustrated in FIG. 1, one solution has been to wrap a rope or sling device around the pipeline system to act as a restraint should there be a pipeline system failure.
By way of example, currently, restraint assemblies are often wrapped around the bended sections of the pipelines to hold the pipe sections together should a failure occur. U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,457, issued to Hayes et al. (the “'457 patent”), describes a safety restraint assembly for high pressure flow lines where short, rib tethers are wrapped around the pipeline near the ends of each section of pipe, and the long tethers are linked end-to-end to form a continuous spine, that is threaded through all the rib tethers. The spine is then anchored at each of its terminal ends to anchoring structures.
A continuous chain of long tethers, as disclosed in the '457 patent, that are looped together will typically result in a bulky and heavy bandage structure. Such a cumbersome, heavy and/or bulky bandage device will create handling and operation difficulties in wrapping the bandage device around the pipeline system and, in particular, in wrapping the bandage device around the bends and curves along the pipeline systems.
Moreover, where such bandage or restraint devices are manufactured using current heat resistant materials, such devices are generally heavier and bulkier because of the physical properties (i.e., density and lack of flexibility) of such heat resistant materials. Further, as is known by those skilled in the art, for many current heat resistant materials, once they are exposed to higher temperatures, the strength of such materials may be compromised after the material is cooled, which in turn reduces the strength of the material and bandage device the material is being used within. In other words, after being exposed to higher temperatures and then being cooled, the bandage device may not be able to withstand the high heat of the pipeline and high pressure as the material or fluids move through the pipelines.
One potential solution to this problem with current bandage or restraint devices is to increase the number of fibers or strands used to manufacture the restraint device or assembly. By increasing the number of fibers or strands, the bulk of the restraint device is increased, which exacerbates the handibility issues described above.
Another potential solution is to simply replace the restraint device after they may have been exposed to higher temperatures. Not only does this not address the bulk or handibility issues, such a solution is both costly and time consuming.
Accordingly, there is a need in the technology or art for bandage or restraint devices or applications that can be used with pipeline systems to maintain safety and reduce failure conditions in such pipeline systems subject to higher pressures and elevated temperatures. Specifically, there is a need for a heat resistant, high strength restraint device that is able to maintain its strength, but does not require added fibers or strands, or added weight and bulk to the restraint device.